


the whole truth

by serpere



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, POV Alternating, eren is 18
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:22:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26856628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serpere/pseuds/serpere
Summary: Levi tends to keep people away.Eren starts breaking down walls that show less resistance than expected.
Relationships: Levi/Eren Yeager, Side Relationships
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

Levi is sitting in the third row of the auditorium. It's close enough so that he can hear and see everything but not so close that the professor could think he's game for making buddies- laughing at his jokes and replying to questions nobody else has the answer to.

The room is big with a high ceiling and huge panelled windows leading out to the gardens- however, big trees are probably hiding the view on purpose so the students don't get distracted. At the moment, there are maybe twenty people here, the professor himself still absent. 

The seats next to him are still free. He prefers it that way. Nobody to bother and bore him with useless small-talk and distract him from the lesson. It's bad luck that nearly in the same second, he thinks that, a guy squeezes past the few others sitting in the row, only to drop directly into the chair to Levi’s left.

He glances at him out of narrowed eyes. The guy has messy, brown hair, which is paired off with ripped jeans and a faded green hoodie. Is that a stain on his sleeve? It is a stain.

Levi purses his mouth and directs attention to the front of the auditorium. His ears pick up how the guy rummages about in that bag-pack of his- the rattling and clattering loud in the otherwise silent room. Most people don't know each other yet with it being the first lecture of the semester, instead letting their eyes travel around the room with the typical nervousness of freshmen straight from high-school.

Finally, the guy stops trying to disappear head first into his bag and drops his stuff with a heavy thunk on the table in front of him. It’s a messy heap of notebooks, pencils and loose sheets, and Levi scrunches up his nose. The guy appears to be unnecessarily chaotic. He dislikes him already.

'Hey, my name's Eren,' the guy suddenly speaks up, interrupting Levi's newly found insight.

He turns to look at him. Eren is giving him an easy-going smile, green eyes studying Levi’s face with such an open, innocent expression that he seems even younger than his features already promise. When the gesture is not mirrored, his grin starts looking a bit uncertain and eventually slips clean off his face. He still looks curious, though, just has the face for it- all expressive eyes and youth wide open on display, somehow.

Levi suddenly feels old. Much older than the 23 printed in black on his ID. How unfortunate that this guy who has some odd similarities with a Golden Retriever is sitting next to him of all people. He considers ignoring him altogether. He decides otherwise in the last moment and says, 'Levi.'

Eren looks like he expects something else and tilts his head, looking at him with intent anticipation. He’s probably waiting for an incentive to continue the conversation. As Levi doesn't like small-talk, he pulls out his laptop and starts it, typing in the password and pulling up a new word-document for the lesson.

'Uh-', Eren makes, sounding somewhat at a loss, 'Yeah, okay. Right, cool.'

Levi ignores that and starts typing today's date and the subject of the lesson. It's already stated online in the syllabus so they know what to expect and maybe prepare a little for the lecture in advance. Levi only read the plan, though; he's diligent, not a goddamn nerd. 

After what seems like an eternity with Eren casting him glances, covering everything from annoyed to intrigued, the professor finally wanders in and greets them with enthusiasm while writing his name on the white-board. 

The lecture is a waste of time. Levi could have stayed at home and not missed anything essential. It's not even a lecture, really. It's rather three-thirds of the professor monologuing about how this is a new chapter in their life and introducing the syllabus and one-third touching on the basics of actually subject-related matter. Levi is bored the whole time and by the end there's only seven lines of relevant stuff typed into his word-document. 

Standing up- eager to finally leave the classroom- he notices Eren's eyes on him again. It’s getting more difficult to ignore the staring but he manages. At least, he doesn't try to talk to him again, so Levi strides past him, not sparing him another look. 

\--

Hanji made him meet them in a café in the afternoon. None of his excuses- namely he had to study and didn't have any time- worked and so he finds himself sitting in a dimly lit coffeeshop that's far too full for his taste. They are sitting next to the window leading out to the street with various cacti and succulents adorning the sill. Hanji has chosen a pastry to go along with their coffee and is now contentedly munching away. 

Levi is not really the kind of person to keep other people around. Hanji and Erwin are the exceptions to that rule and make somewhat consistent appearances in his life. They just get him, know all of his faults and mistakes and still decide to stick by him. It’s cheesy but true to say they all went to thick and thin together.

'How was your first day, Heichou?', they ask, grinning at him with chocolate on their teeth. He pulls a grimace but doesn't bother to tell them so. He also doesn't bother to tell them to quit the nickname, after a while he learned that it wouldn’t do anything to complain about it. It has its origins in a military-obsession during his teenage years together with his ability to intimidate people both on purpose and entirely on accident. The way Erwin and Hanji say it just seems patronizing, though, so he's not overly fond of it. 

He shrugs, 'Normal. Useless. The typical.' He's stirring his tea and stares into the depths of it, getting a little bit distracted. He's startled out of it by how they shake their head with vigor, looking up with a frown.

'You're always so cynical! I don't understand how you can be so disinterested on the first day! There are so many new people to meet; it's exciting!' Enthusiasm lights up their face and makes their voice piercing and loud, the few people in the coffeeshop throwing exasperated glances their way. They don't seem to notice, still staring at Levi, eyes intent behind flashing glasses. 

'You should join my professor in his _New Chapter Of Your Life_ speech. Just make it when I'm not there,' he says, taking a sip of his green tea and humming contentedly at the aroma. Rich but not too strong, exactly how he likes it.

Hanji groans, 'There's just no you without snark, is there?'

'Precisely.'

They don't seem as annoyed as they like to make him believe- the corner of their mouth quirking upwards, 'I love you, anyway.' He doesn't spare that an answer and redirects his gaze out of the window. He hears their giggle but pretends he doesn’t.

'Oh, yeah! I almost forgot to ask! What do you think of me adopting two teeny-tiny kitten-babies?', they ask, seemingly unable to sit still, and start to play around with the packets of sugar on the table, fingers clumsy and causing several packets to fly over to Levi's side of the table.

He pushes them back with a lazy hand, then notes absent-mindedly, 'That's a tautology. At least, I think. The word kitten makes the word babies redundant so it has to be a tautology, doesn't it?'

They gape at him for a second then shake their head violently, 'Not the point, Levi! And remind me why are you giant-nerd not an English major?' It's a rhetoric question, Levi would never learn the shit necessary for that, his time is precious to him, after all. 

The other question of them was not rhetorical, however, and so Hanji looks at him in expectation while pressing a thumb to the remaining crumbs on their plate and licking them off.

He’s gotten used to their table manners and doesn’t pay much attention to it. Shrugging, he says, 'It's not like that concerns me. Do what you gotta do, I guess.'

Levi is not an overly pronounced animal-friend. He doesn't hate them- who does, really? -but he's just not all babbling non-sense, starting to squeak about it like most people are.

Hanji looks at him as if they're deeply disappointed in him, 'I know you're not the most emotional guy, far from it, but that's just exaggerated, don't you think?' They pull out their smartphone, tap several times and then turn the display around. It's an image of two little balls of fluff. Levi can't make out much more.

He nods, 'They look pretty helpless. They definitely need someone to take care of them.'

They heave out a sigh and pocket the phone again, 'I give up. With you this is probably a success.'

Levi scowls at them. They are taking it a bit far now. 'Don't talk to me like I'm emotionally stunted. Everyone looks like a sociopath next to your permanent over-excitement.'

They giggle at that. He isn't surprised. They hardly take anything personal. It's one of their best qualities.

And of course, they talk back. They always talk back, 'Oh, Heichou. I think that sociopaths would actually think you’re one of their own. You're quite talented in appearing some kind of way. Namely, like emotions are a thing incomprehensible to you.'

Levi knows they’re joking. They have seen him break down in tears and rage more than everyone else, they know how much some things get to him.

This is just harmless teasing about how in day-to-day life he’s not the most emotional, expressive person, opting for a more detached, calm behavior.

Adding to that, is his resting bitch face. However, he's never come around to regret it because it passively does what Levi prefers anyway. It keeps people away and minimizes getting hit on. Because who wants some random dude to annoy you into the next century? Apparently, he's a big blip in anyone's gaydar because leering looks and a few stupid remarks make it through his unapproachable appearance, nevertheless. It happens a lot less than when he was eighteen, though, so that’s at least something.

'Thank you, it's a gift.'

\--

Levi drives home in public transit and avoids touching anything- not even to hold himself upright in the abrupt braking of the bus-driver who's obviously seen _The Fast & The Furious_ a few times to many. 

But when it's his stop and no one else enters or leaves the bus except for him, his throat dries up. He turns his hand, eyes sweeping over the bus to make sure but he's definitely on his own. 

It's one of these old busses who don't have automatically opening doors. He frowns- annoyance just simmering beneath his skin- and pushes the button next to the door, which opens with a great _whoosh_ at that.

He angrily stomps out of the bus- quietly muttering under his breath. Stupid public-transit and stupid bus-driver. Pulling out some hand-sanitizer from his bag, he pours a generous amount in his palms and rubs it in. That has to do until he is finally home. 

He knows that the average person rolls his eyes at germaphobia and tells people who have it to not be so squeamish but that only makes him irritated, not abandon his phobia. 

After all, it only seems natural to have an aversion towards dirt and germs. He shudders- the familiar feeling of being dirty spreading over his hands- and he itches for finally washing them.

He's glad when he's home, banging the door shut behind him in a way that probably has his neighbors giving him nasty looks again but he doesn't give a fuck. 

Finally standing in front of the sink, he uses four generous pumps of soup and holds his hands under the tap for a second. Then, he pulls them out of the stream of water, staring at the suds on his knuckles and fingers for a second, before washing them with diligence. 

Once he's satisfied, hands feeling clean again, he's in the process of leaving the bathroom when he thinks otherwise. He makes an abrupt stop and strides to the sink again- jaw clenched tight, annoyance bubbling up. 

It's no use reasoning in these situations, though. His brain says he has to wash his hands again. He does it.

* * *

Eren has the strong assumption that his neighbor in Business economics doesn't like him very much. He doesn't even know why. Usually he's not the person to worry about what others think of him but something about these disdainful, cold looks makes him wonder what he did to anger the guy. 

There are many people who dislike Eren and lots of them have some more or less valid reason for that. Eren thinks of the incident where he somehow managed to throw his entire lunch in Jean Kirstein's face and didn't even apologize afterwards. Just started to laugh. To the point of wheezing.

Yes, he's aware that he's probably a horrible person in some people's eyes. But that makes him all the surer that he didn't give this guy- Levi -solid ground for disliking him. 

It irks him for some reason he can't pin-point. Levi gave him very little to work with and Eren's totally in the dark about the guy. Obvious is only that he gives off an utterly intimidating presence. Problem is, however, that that only ignites Eren’s curiosity, his determination, his stubbornness.

It's the next lesson and Levi is sitting next to him- not so much as acknowledging his existence -and Eren jumps in at the deep end, 'So, Levi- Is there- I mean, like did I do something to... Offend you?' It's a far cry from casual and confident but Eren is only human and those grey eyes boring into him make him nervous and entirely too self-aware. 

Levi arches an eyebrow, and proceeds to look unimpressed. Eren is not surprised. Just when he accepts that there won't be an answer anymore, Levi sets on to speak and there's something about his voice that has Eren staring and zeroing in on the somewhat odd cadence of it. 

'Ah, don't be such a kid,' Levi drawls, pale fingers drumming a lazy rhythm against the edge of the table.

'Don't rack your brain over it; I'm sure it has to work hard enough as it is.' It's dry and dead-pan and it takes some time to seep into Eren's brain. When it does Eren doesn't know whether he should be irritated or amused. Then, he promptly decides that if he has to think about it, he can't be that irritated.

Eyes dropping to the small bow of Levi's mouth- which is still firmly pointing downwards, no hint at a smile or whether he's capable of something resembling it- Eren asks distractedly, 'Why are you so harsh?'

He half-expects Levi to ignore him. Half-expects him to give him attitude; he seems like a guy to do that and Eren would have to lie if he'd say he isn't intrigued with how that would look.

But Levi leans back, crosses his arms- seemingly still disinterested in the conversation but participating, nevertheless, 'Well, there's a cliché answer to that. I don't know whether I'm above answering with it.' He is quiet for a second and considers Eren- nearly as if he's deciding if Eren's worth an original remark or merely the cliché one. Eren doesn't know which one he'd like to hear more and lets Levi think.

'Short people are closer to hell,' Levi states- voice still dry, face still dead-pan- and turns around to the display of his laptop, obviously done with talking to Eren.

Eren has to bite back a smile. He never stood directly next to Levi but having seen him squeeze past his seat there's no mistaking that the other guy is unusually short. He seems to make up for it with snark. 

\--

'You're obsessed,' Armin says and he looks so dead-serious as if talking about a deadly condition. 

Mikasa, Armin and Eren are currently in Armin's dorm-room which he shares with Jean. The same Jean, Eren showered with his lunch on a dumb accident. Luckily, he's not home otherwise there'd be some brawling for sure. 

Eren pulls up his knees to his chest and slings his arms around his legs, 'Am not.'

Armin gives Eren a thoughtful look from where he’s sitting next to him on his bed, 'I don't know what's up with that to be honest. Why is everyone going all heart-eyes when someone sasses them?'

‘I’m not going heart-eyes, for fuck’s sake! What are you even talking about?’ Eren’s indignation makes him bristle and sit up, giving Armin a dark look.

Armin gives him a smile. It’s probably meant to be soothing but the effect is drastically lessened with how he glances at Mikasa not soon after and asks her, ‘Can you explain this?’

Eren gapes. He’s dead-ass being ignored. Annoyance flares up in his stomach- bright, red and hot- and he wants to shout at them, is short of doing so but then takes a deep breath. He just can’t go around throwing temper tantrums like he did in high school. He’s in college now, he has to keep himself under control. He’s not a child, he’s eighteen. He’s got this.

Slumping back against the wall behind him, he settles down so he’s comfortable and decides to let them bullshit in peace. He’ll just be chilling over here.

Mikasa's sitting on Armin's spinning chair, rotating slightly from left to right, face somewhat shuttered, 'I can't, no.' She considers this some more, then adds, 'Maybe it's just the prospect of a challenge and the possibility of not getting what you want?' She looks thoughtful but there’s something dark in her expression, too.

Previous anger forgotten, he stares at her, eyebrows pulled together. Eren knows better than to ask her what's going on but that doesn't mean he's not worried. Mikasa is his sister and it's his duty to worry about her. Even if she's older and always takes care of him and has the worrying part about him already down to a notch, that doesn't mean he can't do the same thing in return. 

But then the words register and he can't help but protest, 'I don't want Levi!' It comes out louder than he wanted it to and Armin looks like he's holding back laughter. Mikasa like she's holding back something much more difficult.

He has to ask her about that later. Maybe she’ll tell him when they’re alone. They both love Armin, he’s their best friend, but it’s different with her. Eren was the driving force behind his parents adopting her and she protected him from bullies since he’s able to remember.

'Nobody insists that you do. Your vehemence is just a bit _interesting_ ,' Armin says but it’s not teasing. He looks at Eren with wide, sympathetic eyes and gives him another one of those reassuring smiles. This time it works a little better.

They’re still wrong, though.

Now, it's like this. Eren knows he's bi. Has known for a long time. Like around the time in high-school where he took out a girl for a date to the cinema and kept bumping hands accidentally on-purpose with the guy next to him. The girl left in the middle of the movie, the guy didn't. 

However, that doesn't mean that he's interested in everyone who has a pulse and belongs to the species homo sapiens. He can admit that Levi has intense, very distracting eyes and that it's pretty fucking adorable just how short he is. Point is, though, that Eren has some experience with guys like him and he knows that Levi's personality and Eren's couldn't be more incompatible and that it would be nothing more than a warped recipe waiting to blow up in everyone's face. As Eren has some survival-instincts- doesn't matter what his high-school chemistry teachers have to say to that- he's happy to let this thing stay on the level it is currently. Some harmless small-talk, maybe some bickering and that’s it.

He says so much to Mikasa and Armin. Mikasa looks relieved and Armin doubtful but Eren has enough of that and quickly changes the topic. 

'And are you still in puppy-love with Jean?', he asks Armin and has to smile at the blush spreading across his face. It’s adorable, he can admit that much

'No! What? Shut up,' Armin mutters and starts to fidget with a pillow. 

Mikasa falls in, 'Is this all you two can talk about? Your crushes-', when Eren opens his mouth to protest, she adds, 'Or lack of them?' She leans back in the chair, 'How's this instead: How do you like your classes so far?'

Eren groans, 'I've already had that talk with my mother, Mika. I'm sure you did, too. Do we really have to do this?'

They do. Mikasa always manages to make the boys do what she wants. Eren doesn't like to think about that for too long. 

\--

Eren stands in front of his dorm-room a few hours later, having been at Armin's for much longer than he had ultimately planned. Considering that he has still course-work to do for tomorrow he wants to punch past-Eren in the face who said that this is a problem for future-Eren. 

'Why, past-Eren? Why?', he mumbles and opens the door with vehemence. 

Marco flinches at the noise, looking up at him with wide eyes from where he's perched on his bed- hovering over his laptop. His blanket is pulled over his head and it makes for a more than odd image. 

But Eren is used to this and just nods at him, throwing the door shut behind him. Then, when the awkward silence continues for a little too long, he walks over to his bed and jokes, 'What did I interrupt you while watching porn?'

When Marco stays quiet, he freezes.

'Uh- _Did_ I interrupt you while watching porn?' His voice has a slightly panicky quality to it but Marco is certainly in no state to make fun of him for that- looking every bit like the prey in front of the predator.

They are staring at each other and Eren wants to break eye-contact but he can't, wants to flee but is physically unable to move. There is a flush riding high on Marco's cheeks and it makes his freckles stand out all the more. The only noise in the room is the steady ticking of the clock on the wall and the muffled talking of other students in their rooms.

Whatever strange mood settled down ends abruptly with Marco closing his laptop with a resolute click. 'You didn't... I mean, I wasn't,' he stutters and stands awkwardly. And then he is walking over to the microwave and Eren eyes can't help but quickly flick downwards and he sees physical proof that Marco hadn't been watching porn. Thank God.

Of course, they are both dudes and roommates and aware that stuff like this is happening when the other's not in the room but it's really not a thing Eren thinks they have to share. That would just be odd. It's a mutually acknowledged thing among roommates that you need to get off sometime and it's mutually acknowledged that you pretend you don't know anything.

He looks at Marco's closed laptop, still sitting innocently on his blanket and holding all of the secrets. His fingers itch but he has himself under control. It is obvious that Marco watched or read something awkward, incriminating, but that is private and none of his business. Eren's just glad and overly grateful that he didn't burst into the middle of a masturbating session. That's just something you don't forget that easily.

He sits down on his bed and pulls of his boots, letting them fall down to the floor with a heavy thunk.

Meanwhile, Marco pulls out his cup of ramen from the microwave, opens it and puts in the spice-mix. He's stirring it with such an amount of concentration that Eren assumes he needs a little more time to ponder in silence. 

He opens his own laptop and starts on the course-work. It's not like it gets less the longer he waits. 

It’s easily an hour before Marco interrupts the quiet, 'So, about earlier-' He looks like he's walking to his final trial. Sentence trailing off into nothing, Marco averts his eyes and stares at a spot on the wall until Eren can't take it anymore. He's also pretty surprised that Marco is addressing this himself and so quickly at that.

If it was Eren caught doing something he was uncomfortable with he'd ignore the incident until his brain eventually would push it so deep down that it reached his subconscious and he'd forget all about it for real. Well, not everyone could have such coping-mechanisms.

He gives Marco a careless grin- trying to the diffuse the persistent, strange tension between them- and lies easily through his teeth, 'Dude, forget it. I've already forgotten it, you should, too.'

Marco looks so relieved that Eren wants to pat his head. Or maybe hug him. He doesn't, though, considering that they're already fighting against the aftermath of a weird situation; he really shouldn't make it more difficult for them.

'Thanks,' Marco says and drags a hand through his already slightly messy hair - still giving him this relieved, crooked smile. His eyes are not intimidating in the least but warm and friendly and familiar down to every speck of color and make Eren suddenly feel all funny inside.

His laptop slides of his thighs and he stares at the floor in horror. Oh, no.


	2. Chapter 2

Eren stops staring and Levi thinks that finally, it is over. He dislikes being stared at, it feels like being under a microscope and getting analyzed to the smallest detail. He doesn't know what it is with Eren's gaze that is so much more invasive, intense, than most people's but he knows that he hates it and is glad that it's over. 

He can finally concentrate properly on the lesson without a pair of nosey eyes glued to his face. He has problems understanding why the other guy was staring either but had yet to come to an explanation. It didn't seem like a gay thing and he's glad about that but then what reason could you have to stare at someone so intently either? It's not like he cares but it concerns him in some way and he'd like what he's about. Not that it matters now because it stopped and he's rather glad about that. 

Levi shakes his head and taps his right foot in annoyance. He's not the type to ponder what other people might think or not think about him and he's not going to start now because some stupid, wide-eyed brat is sitting next to him. Determinedly, he starts writing down every single thing that the professor is saying. At least, this way his brain is pre-occupied with something else and can't wander off on shady paths leading God knows where.

His hand starts to cramp up after a measly ten minutes and he curses his goddamn laptop. It crashed yesterday night, screen turning black out of nowhere, and nothing he did got to make it work again. He has to go to the store today and let them fix it, which will probably bite a heavy chunk out of his wallet. Levi scowls. At least, he doesn't have to worry about the data saved on it. In his typical meticulous fashion, he copied every file on a USB and an external hard-drive.

Suddenly, a strange noise startles him out of his musings and he is just in time to see a coffee-to-go cup toppling, dangerously close to spill its contents all over his notes. 

He doesn't think, his hand is moving on its own, and suddenly he has a firm grip around the cup, successfully preventing it from drowning his notes. A few stray drops have managed to escape onto a few pages but it's minimal to what it could have done. 

Levi looks up from his slightly smudged neat hand-writing, and finds Eren, who looks positively terrified, completely still all over, eyes bigger than usual. Levi doesn't know whether that should make him smirk or frown so he does neither and settles for pushing the cup back into Eren's hands.

'You- That was... Your reflexes...,' Eren stutters somewhat nonsensically but Levi gets the gist. He only gives him a blank look, eyebrows slightly raised, and Eren's scrambling to apologize, 'I'm so sorry about that! I accidentally hit the cup with my elbow while writing and sort of yeeted it-' At seeing Levi's eyebrows climbing even higher, he says, 'Uh, hurled it in your direction. I'm sorry.'

His eyes dart to Levi's notes and he reaches out- only God knows for what- and before Levi has time to realize what he's doing he slaps the hand away. Eren is quick to snatch it back, looking somewhat dumbfounded with how he's blinking a few times. 'Uh, sorry again.'

'Hm,' Levi makes, takes out a tissue and slightly starts dabbing the few brown stains. 

'You- you in that grey hoodie-', the professor suddenly speaks up, pointing in their general direction. As Levi wouldn't be caught dead in the worn-out, ink-stained thing in question, it's obvious that he means Eren. Dabbing further on his notes, he listens but doesn't bother to watch the whole thing unfold. He notices, though, how everyone in the auditorium turns around to gape at them. Or rather Eren. Well, that's his fault. Clumsy-ass idiot.

'Can you explain why you're rather staring at and talking to your neighbor than paying attention to my lesson?', the professor asks. He raises an eyebrow and looks torn between annoyance and mild amusement.

'Yes, professor. Sorry, professor,' Eren says instantly and Levi wants to face-palm. He doesn’t, however, and continues minimizing the damage done to his notes. 'Uh, I sort of nearly soaked his notes in coffee. He managed to catch the cup, though, so everything's okay now. I'm sorry for the interruption.'

'Aha-', the professor makes, sounding doubtful, and Levi looks up. 'Well, good that that's cleared up. Now be quiet and pay attention or I'll walk over to you and pour my coffee-', he holds up a thermos-can, 'On your notes.' He gives Eren a smile that shows he's joking and continues monologuing about how the government gets the majority of their money. Oh, what a great world to live in.

It's only a couple minutes and then Eren turns his head a little, paying attention to be quiet this time, and whispers under his breath, 'I'm really sorry. Maybe I can give you a copy of my notes?'

Levi's eyes flick down to the messy chicken-scratch on two loose sheets of paper. 'I think I'll pass,' he drawls and doesn't fail to notice how Eren's cheeks get slightly red. God, he's so fucking awkward. 'Are you sure you're not supposed to be in fucking high-school, got lost and walked in here on accident?'

The flush disappears rather quickly and Eren starts to look indignant instead, giving Levi an offended look, 'I'm eighteen and right where I'm supposed to be.' He hesitates for a second, then adds with a shit-eating grin, 'Are you sure you're not supposed to be in a nursing home, yapping at everyone who’s just trying to help?'

Levi snorts at that. Eren leans slightly forward and opens his mouth to say something else when he over-balances, causing the chair to tilt sideways. He catches himself in the last moment before landing ass first on the floor and sits down properly- all miraculously without the professor noticing. 

'Oi, you got attitude, brat,' Levi scolds with narrowed eyes but is secretly bemused, not having expected Eren to talk back like that.

Eren tilts his head and picks up a pen, twirling it around between his fingers, then looks up asks, 'Why are you calling me brat anyway? We're in the same course, you can't be that much older than me.'

Levi rolls his eyes, 'College doesn't work like high school, idiot. You can go whenever you feel like it.'

'So, how old are you?' Eren sits up, face attentive, then becomes self-aware and starts slouching in an extremely over-exaggerated manner.

God, he's truly still a fucking kid. 'Twenty-three,' Levi says and ignores Eren's eyes nearly bulging out of his head. 

'Really, you're so-' Eren pauses and gestures towards Levi’s full height of 5ft 2.

Levi scowls, 'I swear to God if you say short, I'll make you _eat_ your shitty fucking notes.' 

Eren looks short of laughing now and that's a thing Levi really cannot let slide-

'I don't know what's going on over there but another word and I'll separate you two!', the professor yells, successfully making them both shut up and stare at him- Eren in guilt, Levi in annoyance.

'I don't care if you two are having a meet-cute or whatever over there but postpone it for after my lesson, okay? I'm not above making you write twenty pages from the textbook,' he holds the book in question up and it has the approximate width of an encyclopedia.

'Many professors in college don't really care what their students are doing during the lesson; fighting, flirting, texting, sleeping... But I do! So, shut your mouths and pay attention!'

He gives them another stern look, then turns back to the current slide, depicting a complicated diagram. 

Levi focuses on his notes, ignoring Eren who tries to get his attention again. He can't believe he let himself be distracted like that. And from a _kid_ , at that. This is fucking unacceptable, he's here for studying not for bickering with someone so... Childish? Annoying? Immature? All those words seem to fit so he doesn't try to pick a single one, instead starting to take notes again, writing around the still drying spots of coffee.

\--

After lessons are finally done for the day, he drops by his apartment and picks up his laptop, then drives to the store that should be able to fix whatever is wrong with it.

At entering the store, he immediately pulls the scarf around his neck loose. It's stuffy, hot and full inside- too many people roaming the tech displayed on white tables and playing around on phones, laptops and tablets. Well, Christmas isn't that far away so it makes sense. 

Levi heads for the support center immediately. Luckily, no one is waiting in line so he drops his laptop unceremoniously down on the counter. The employee flinches slightly at the careless handling but then gives him a professional, polite smile, 'How can I help you?'

Levi stuffs his hands into the pockets of his coat and nods toward the laptop, 'This fucking thing doesn't work like it's supposed to. It crashed and won't turn on anymore.'

The employee- a man in an ugly orange uniform with a tag that says Paul- pulls the laptop over to him and opens it, pushing the on-button with vehemence for a few moments. 

Levi watches the display in detached displeasure, 'I'm not a complete idiot, Paul.'

Paul looks confused, then glances down at the tag on his uniform, 'Ah, right. I always forget that.' He scratches the back of his neck and tilts his head, studying Levi for a moment. 'Oh, right! Uh- Never thought you were.' Giving him a sly smile, he adds with a shrug, ‘It’s just the first thing we always try.'

Then, he's raising the laptop slightly over his head and peers up at the underside of it.

'At least, pay for its dinner first,' Levi mumbles, thinking it's quiet enough so that he's not heard. He's proven otherwise by the small snort Paul makes, still staring at something Levi couldn't name for the life of him. He taps his foot impatiently against the floor but refrains from any snark. The guy's just doing his job, after all. 

'Did you pour any liquid over it?', Paul asks, both like it's routine and as if he expects to be yelled at for it.

Well, Levi's not that short-tempered so he just gives a disinterested, 'No.' 

He's glad he didn't have the laptop in his classes today. Otherwise, it would have very likely been christened with some coffee. 

Paul sets the laptop down again, considering it some more before finally turning to Levi, 'Okay, the hardware seems perfectly fine. The problem is probably somewhere in the software what means that it will be harder to fix,' he breaks off, giving Levi an assessing look, 'I think you're someone who appreciates getting to the point right away so I'm gonna give it to you straight without any tech-y details: This'll take some time and will be pretty expensive, too. That okay?'

Levi heaves out a sigh. Of course. Well, he'll have to pick up a few extra shifts in the bookstore, looks like. 'I guess,' he says unenthusiastically. 

Paul- who can't be much older than Levi himself- smiles again. He seems to do that a lot. Must be exhausting. He hands Levi a piece of paper, 'Okay, write down your name and the model of the laptop on this, give that to me and I'll give you a receipt.'

Levi doesn't bother with the pens available from the store- who knows how many dirty hands touch them on the daily; he doesn’t want to even think about that- and pulls out a pen from his backpack, quickly scrawling down everything that's asked of him. 

Returning it, Paul gives him the receipt- intent, blue eyes meeting his head-on, 'For you I'll make sure this gets done quick, okay?' 

Levi gives a nod at that- acknowledging the favor and the satisfactory service- and is already turning away and in the process of leaving when Paul adds a bit louder so that he's heard over the background-noise of people chattering, 'A discount, too,' a short pause, then with a strange emphasis, ' _Levi_.'

Levi has already left the shop when he realizes that the guy had very purposefully flirted with him. He sighs. Didn't he say it? He was a big, great blip in everyone's gaydar. The reason he had yet to figure out himself.

However, he's not going to complain when it improves the service of the store.

* * *

Eren wishes he'd never caught Marco doing God knows what because now he can't stop staring at his roommate and is always aware of his presence- even out of the corner of his eye. The problem with it is that Marco is so awfully nice. He is a genuinely good person and that makes it all the worse that Eren is crushing on him. He couldn't tell for the life of him if Marco noticed and is tactile now, has no fucking clue or reciprocates. 

In conclusion, Eren is slightly more awkward than usual around him. He doesn't think it's that bad, though, so it is bearable. Especially, in comparison with the embarrassing incidents which always seem to happen around Levi. He isn’t even into him. Of course, he's not blind and he can admit that Levi's pretty good-looking but that's the whole of it. So, consequently it's not that he wants the ground to swallow him up when he dowses his notes in coffee or nearly falls of his chair but such stuff is uncomfortable no matter who is the person seeing it. It just makes him seem like a clumsy idiot. Also, Levi seems like a guy to judge others so he's one of the last people Eren feels comfortable being messy and chaotic around. 

'Hey, Eren. What did you want to talk about with me anyway?', Armin interrupts his thoughts. 

They are walking alongside the main road, having grabbed a coffee to warm them up in the truly awful weather. At least, it's not raining; there's just a harsh, cold wind blowing and generally freezing temperatures outside. The walk to campus is only around ten minutes so it's not really worth waiting for the next bus, though.

Eren takes a sip of his coffee. 'Uh, right. So, I just wanted to ask you like-', he plucks a stray piece of lint of his coat, awkwardly clearing his throat, 'Say hypothetically you're crushing on a good friend of yours, how would you go about that?' He avoids Armin's curious eyes and stares at the traffic driving by them. 

Armin's voice is innocent when he speaks, 'Good friends like the both of us and Mikasa- I know she's technically your sister, but you know what I mean- or like the dude you're talking to in class?'

Eren's head swirls around. The idea of being friends with Levi is both absolutely terrifying and ridiculous; there's just no way he'd have interest in getting to know someone like Eren. It's not that Eren has any specific issues with confidence; that just seem like a mere fact.

And he’s not crushing on Levi! 

'Oh, he's not my-. We're not friends. Not even close to that.' Clearing his throat once again, he adds with vehemence, ‘Also, I’m not fucking crushing on him! Would you just stop that?’

Armin raises an eyebrow, 'Alright, I didn’t say anything.' At seeing Eren's face, he sighs and says, 'Who are you then talking about?'

Eren thinks it's best ripping off the band-aid in situations such as these, 'Marco,' Armin is just kind of staring at him so he adds, 'My roommate.'

Armin gives him a little shove- Eren nearly doesn't feel anything- so gentle is it. 'I know who Marco is, Eren! I'm just-' He considers his words for a moment, takes a sip of his tea, then says, 'Surprised, I guess? It's just so sudden and you never seemed particularly interested in him when we're all together.'

'Maybe I'm just subtle?' 

Armin actually laughs at that- in a way that seems genuinely amused not mean in any way, 'You're one of the least subtle people I know. Especially, when you're having a crush. Remember that girl back in high school? I think… Kelly?'

Eren nods and Armin continues, a small smile still in place, 'I can’t count all the times you made a fool of yourself in front of her. You're one of my absolute best friends and I love you but that was really funny.' Armin is shaking his head slightly as if he can't believe what an idiot Eren is. 

'I've always known you were pure evil behind that innocent face of yours,' Eren grumbles. Armin just gives him another smile- this time a bit more empathic. 

'Anyway, back to the topic. Are you sure you're really into him? This seems a little bit...', he breaks off once again, then adds thoughtfully, 'Hm, I wanna say half-assed. You're not even gushing about him and that's something you _always_ do! Going all wide-eyed and adoring.'

'I do not!', Eren shouts and ignores the odd looks people are giving him. He’s starting to feel indignant with what Armin is saying. He doesn’t like it. Gushing? He does not gush, no matter about what or who. Also, who is Armin to verify the level of authenticity of his crush?

'Who are you to verify the level of authenticity of my crush?', he asks and would cross his arms if he wasn’t holding a cup of coffee. 

Armin raises his hands in his typical reasonable, cooperative, peace-loving nature, 'I'm not-Okay, maybe I am. But sometimes people just go for something easier when the actual person they like is not an option. Like a subconscious back-up for them to project their emotions onto.'

Eren gapes blankly. Then he frowns, 'Do you know how much I hate that you major in psychology?'

Armin gives a little shrug, 'I know. You get mediocre, free, psychological advice this way, though. Isn't that something?' He grins and for such a short person with a blond bowl-cut and a baby-face, it's surprisingly disconcerting.

He thinks about what Armin is saying. He thinks about how he feels around Marco. He likes him. He finds him attractive. He is _so_ nice and positive and funny. 

'Huh, this is interesting. I don't want to have sex with him,' he states and ignores the dirty look from a middle-aged woman walking by.

Keep on walking, Karen. 

'And are you interested in anyone else? A more challenging alternative so your brain just went for the nice and comfy version instead?', Armin questions and sounds like he already knows the answer. 

'I’m not,' Eren says, irritated, because he’s absolutely sure of that. He has given up on shouting and feeling angry, though, Armin’s persistence is honestly wearing him out.

Armin heaves out a sigh. A very big, exasperated one and slurps on his tea- not bothering to answer. They make a left and enter the campus site, walking in temporary silence.

Eren knows what he's playing at but he also knows that he's wrong. Just because he's studying Psychology doesn't mean he's omnipotent. 

Armin speaks up, ‘I’m just saying you should maybe think about it. You know, reconsider because I get the feeling-’

'No! I'm not into fucking Levi! Alright?', Eren interrupts. He has enough of this shit and doesn’t want to hear anything about it again.

And then he wants the ground to swallow him up because apparently his life is a shitty soap.

Not five-feet away from them- on the same small path curving around trees and bushes as them- is Levi, heading in their direction, apparently just having finished a lecture. 

He stares at them out of narrowed eyes. Eren has problems identifying his expression. Any guess could be accurate, Levi's face a blank façade. 

Eren is staring hard at his feet when Levi's walking past and asks quiet enough so that Armin on Eren's other side can't hear, 'So, you wanna get fucked then?'

Eren promptly swallows around his spit and starts coughing, head slightly turning, looking at Levi's retreating back in disbelief. 

'Hey, you okay?' Sweet, dear, innocent Armin asks him when he hears and sees Eren nearly hacking out a lung, worried eyes not leaving him for a second.

When Eren has finally stopped nearly dying a very mortifying death, he rasps out, voice rough, 'That was Levi and he heard-', he breaks off.

Is this really his life? He thinks he's having an out-of-body experience. 

'What? Really?' Armin's scrambling to turn around but Levi's long gone, a surprisingly fast walker, considering how short his legs are. 

'But... he's so tiny!' Armin exclaims. 

Eren snorts, 'He's about as tall as you. Or well, as short.'

'Haha. No, but I mean how you talked about him I just imagined a tall, brooding, mysterious guy not... Well, him. I think he's even shorter than me, though I can't be sure,' Armin looks like he's thinking hard about this, a deep frown on his face. 

Eren snaps and barks, 'Hey, can we talk about the important shit here? He just heard me saying that!'

'Well, did he say anything?'

Eren ponders hard whether he should confide in Armin but he's always been a pretty honest person and egos are overrated, anyway. So, he tells him.

Predictably, Armin starts laughing and can't stop.

\--

Later back in the room he's sharing with Marco he thinks about what Armin said. He can admit that it's probably true that he's not into Marco. It feels more like a deep fondness and affection for him but less like a physical thing. Maybe it's just the familiarity of their relationship that caused him to draw the wrong conclusion. 

However, he still disagrees with Armin on the Levi-related issue. He’s not into him, that much he knows. He might admire him, have an embarrassing amount of respect for him but it is more like looking up to him and not a crush. 

'What are you thinking about this hard?', Marco asks suddenly. He's rolled up into a little ball in his bed, peering over his phone at Eren. It's stuff like this that made Eren think he had a crush on him. Marco looks just so soft right now, face lit up blue from the screen of his phone and hair mussed up from snuggling up in his blanket. 

'I-', he can't really tell Marco that he's musing about what caused the world’s probably shortest crush on him. Marco. That's out of the question. Eren's honest, not masochistic. 

Neither does he want to talk about Levi. He doesn't need another person insisting he's suppressing some subconscious feelings, he's not, thank you very much. So, he opts for the next best thing. 

'Uh- I have this presentation tomorrow and I feel a little unprepared. Nothing I can do right now, though. I have to work with sources from the library and it's long closed, so...', he trails off. It's not a lie, per se. He has in fact a presentation tomorrow. However, he's not really nervous because it's a harmless little talk of about fifteen minutes so that the professor can get a feeling of their public talking and how well they manage presenting more complex topics. 

Marco frowns and he looks seriously worried for Eren's sake, putting his phone away and looking at him with undivided attention, 'Oh, shit. That sucks. Which class is it?'

'Business economics,' because of course it has to be the lecture Levi's in as well. 

'But you understand the topic and have something prepared, right?' Marco asks, sitting up. 

Eren nods, face morphing into confusion when Marco holds out a hand. What is he supposed to do? Hand holding for moral support?

'Show me your notes,' Marco explains when Eren continues to stare at his hand in bewilderment. 

'Oh,' Eren makes, then, 'Oh!' and he's scrambling to pull his notes out of his backpack leaning against one of his bedposts, 'Here.'

He has about three Din-A4 pages filled with his typical narrow and messy script, Levi scrunched up his nose over. Snob with his fancy cursive and shit. 

Eren's touched that Marco wants to take the time to read through all of his notes, right now at 11 PM. He very likely would prefer to watch Netflix right now but he's so loyal that he's proof-reading notes about tax-percentages and different income brackets. 

He sighs and looks at Marco, 'You're too good for your own good.'

Marco looks up and raises an eyebrow but Eren doesn't elaborate and gives a one-shouldered shrug instead, 'Now, what do you think?'

Marco's nodding and folding the papers in the middle again, and hands them back over, 'They're really good. I mean I don't have economy but I get the basics and I really think this is sufficient and detailed enough, you don't need to worry about that.' He smiles in such earnest at Eren that he's feeling a little bad that this was a distraction technique. 

He vouches to treat Marco to something to eat or drink sometime, whatever comes up at the moment. Totally platonic, of course.

Eren smiles back, 'Thank you, Marco. You're the best.' And he means it. 

\--

Levi is surprisingly bad at public talking. Eren thought he would be totally killing it but the opposite is the case. Okay, well, that's an exaggeration, he's not horrible and not really bad but he's worse than originally expected. 

He's rattling off facts, is familiar with every process down to the detail and he's definitely eloquent but even he seems bored by what he's talking about and so his talk comes off as a little dry. 

Eren's thoughts sort of drift away, not that interested in economy when someone's good at presenting it and even less so when someone's bad at it, and instead notices how small Levi looks standing in front of the auditorium, behind the table. He looks tiny in fact and now he knows what Armin's been talking about. It's easy overlooking that, though, with how Levi has such a presence that it makes people forget his height. 

Eren's bored by the topic Levi’s talking about, sure, but how he stands there, shoulders pulled back, all rigid posture and languid, distracted gestures is much more interesting than boring, economic facts, anyway. 

The talk ends pretty quickly and then he's walking back to his place next to Eren's right side and plopping down in his chair with a huff. 

Eren's still at a loss on how to approach him when the last thing they said to each other had more or less literally involved fucking so he just ignores Levi, staring straight ahead and waiting for his turn. 

It's difficult, especially with how he sees out of the corner of his eye that Levi's giving him short, subtle glances from now to then. 


End file.
